Grill First or Grill Last?

Cooking brats isn’t rocket science, regardless of whether you’re grilling bratwurst, cooking it on the stovetop, smoking it, or throwing it in the oven.

You’re cooking sausage, which isn’t as demanding to get right as other cuts of meats or recipes and dishes that have no margin for error during the prep or cooking process.

The real dilemma you’ll face is one that has divided Brat Nation for many years: whether you simmer and soak your brats in a beer bath before grilling or finishing on the stove or whether you grill your brats first and then finish in beer.

To that eternal question, we have no definitive answer. But we do have a solution: go forth and experiment and try both!

Brats are relatively cheap meats so experiment with different methods and recipes in your search for the best way to cook brats.

Unlike most science experiments, you get to eat the tasty results and wash it down with beer. Embrace any “failures”, toast your successes, and keep experimenting, noble brat scientists!